


walk you home

by clairehelene



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: M/M, Slice of Life, basically marks point of view, ish, mark is tae's little brother
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-13
Updated: 2019-04-13
Packaged: 2020-01-12 18:08:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18451862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clairehelene/pseuds/clairehelene
Summary: Mark meets Taeyong's (boy-)friend, Jaehyun.





	walk you home

**Author's Note:**

> idk i wanted jaeyong with little kids + i've always wanted to try and write something from an outsider's pov so this is pretty self-indulgent lol  
> this has been getting dusty in my drafts i guess
> 
> title from 'walk you home' by nct's superior unit

About two months had passed since Mark had gotten adopted by the Lee family. Mr and Mrs Lee, as well as their son Lee Taeyong,  had been nothing but kind and friendly ever since he joined their family. Having grown up in an English-speaking family before they had passed away, he barely spoke any Korean, but the three did their best to make him feel included as much as possible.

The most dedicated one was Taeyong. He would repeat himself as often as needed for Mark to fully understand him, and he even took extracurricular English classes to understand Mark better. Hence, Taeyong had been around Mark when the younger first moved into the room next to the other’s, babying him and looking after him.

That was until there was suddenly someone else in Taeyong’s life at least.

Mark first met him on the staircase of their home, where he almost ran into him.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” the stranger mumbled in a deep, honey-like voice. He smiled an apologetic, dimpled smile at Mark. “You must be Mark,” he said, or so Mark guessed. His Korean skills still lacked a great amount.

Mark just stood there, frozen, unsure of what to say or do. He had never seen this boy here before; was he one of Taeyong’s friends? Or what if the Lees had decided to adopt another child and wanted to throw him out?

At that moment, Taeyong appeared on the top of the staircase. Mark didn’t understand what he was saying, but he guessed he was introducing them to one another. Then Taeyong added something along the lines of Mark not being fluent in Korean yet, but the stranger just turned to smile at him again.

“Oh, that’s fine,” he said in barely-accentuated English. “We can speak in English if that’s easier for you. My name is Jaehyun, or Jeffrey, whatever suits you best.” Then he stretched out his hand to the younger.

“How...,” Mark started with furrowed eyebrows, as he shook Jaehyun’s hand, unsure.

“I lived in America for four years, I picked up one word or another,” he explained, his smile not faltering. “It’s nice to meet you, Mark, Taeyong’s told me so much about you.”

Mark blushed and his eyes darted to Taeyong, who looked like he would combust any time soon. (Later, when Mark would ask him, Taeyong would say it made him happy to see them get along so well.)

“Nice to meet you, too, uh, Jaehyun. Taeyong never mentioned you, though,” Mark answered and Jaehyun let out a deep laugh before he looked at Taeyong who avoided his gaze for some reason. Mark didn’t question it.

“Anyways, Taeyong needed help with his homework, so I’m going to help him with it,” Jaehyun said before he switched into Korean again. “Right, Taeyong, your maths homework?”

Taeyong only nodded, ruffled through Mark’s hair, before he and Jaehyun went upstairs into Taeyong’s room.

Only later, Mark wondered why Taeyong needed help with his math homework because after all, he was a top student.

 

///

 

After that time, he didn’t see Jaehyun for quite some time. But Taeyong was barely ever home, spending his weekends somewhere else, and even on school days, he came home late.

That resulted in Mark crawling back into his shell, Taeyong having been the only one trying to coax him out of it. Mr and Mrs Lee were struggling to talk to him, Mark knew that and he genuinely appreciated his offers. But without Taeyong at his side, encouraging him with a gentle smile, he was lost.

One night, he heard Taeyong have a fight with his parents. He didn’t understand everything, but he heard his name multiple times, and judging from the pitch of their voices, the two adults were blaming Taeyong, whose voice broke several times. The fight ended with Taeyong slamming the door of his room.

The next morning, Mark was greeted with breakfast in bed, pancakes and orange juice, and Taeyong apologised over and over about how he abandoned Mark and just thought of himself. He promised he’d spend his day with Mark, and would solely focus on his little brother—Mark couldn’t describe the feeling when he heard these words.

So they spent the whole Saturday in a theme park, and Mark realised just how much he had missed Taeyong.

Taeyong almost managed to hide the fact that he spent more time looking at his phone than it to be considered just checking the time. When Mark returned from one of the higher roller coasters—Taeyong had been too scared so he had stayed back—, Mark saw him on his phone, smiling like a kid on Christmas.

Taeyong spotted him quick enough and put his phone away and proposed to get ice cream.

“Who are you talking to?” Mark asked after a while of silent ice cream licking.

Taeyong looked at him with a surprised look, most likely not having expected Mark to initiate a conversation, but he covered the surprise up soon enough. “Uh,” he made, swallowing, looking for words.

“It was Jaehyun,” Mark stated, and Taeyong agreed even though it hadn’t been a question. “You can bring him the next time.”

“Really?” Taeyong asked, hope flaring up in his big eyes, a smile making itself present on his face.

Mark nodded, reciprocating the smile. “He is a nice person.”

Strangely, Taeyong thanked him and paid him another round of ice cream. For the rest of the day, he was even happier than before.

When they returned home, it was already getting darker and colder. They managed to catch the bus and during the whole ride, Taeyong told him all about how overjoyed he was after spending so much quality time with Mark and about his new plans.

And Taeyong even managed to keep his promises—some of them at least. The two went out two more times, to a café and a dog park, Taeyong declaring afterwards he’d adopt ten puppies soon. And Jaehyun also didn’t join them, which disappointed Mark, for some reason.

Therefore, he was even happier when Taeyong informed him that Jaehyun would accompany them on a trip to the zoo. They met him at the entrance, Jaehyun immediately breaking into a smile when he saw the two coming his way.

Jaehyun and Taeyong hugged tightly as if they hadn’t seen each other for a long time—Mark knew it couldn’t have been longer than a couple of days—, before Jaehyun spotted him and ruffled patted his head, looking at him fondly.

“What’s up, kiddo?” he asked him.

“The sky,” Mark answered sheepishly, hiding between Taeyong’s narrow figure, trying to hide his giggle when Jaehyun let out an exaggerated sigh followed by a deep laugh.

 They went forward to the ticket office, where Jaehyun swiftly pulled out his card to pay, making Taeyong flustered who had wanted to pay originally. Jaehyun even bought food for the animals, which he handed Mark.

They walked through the zoo, Mark feeding some of the animals, always taking his place between the two older ones.

When they arrived at the camels, Jaehyun managed to make Mark laugh with his impersonation of the animals, so that the youngest doubled over and landed on his knees, dirtying his clothes. Jaehyun promptly knelt down next to him, helping him get up again and dusted off the front of Mark’s jeans.

Their next stop was at the giraffes. Mark got frustrated when he couldn’t look over the fence, not even when he was tip-toeing. He shrieked when he felt two strong hands grab his hips, and suddenly he found himself sitting on Jaehyun’s broad shoulders.

Like that, he had a great view over the whole area, and when a giraffe baby got close to them, he stretched out his hand and fed it.

Taeyong being his over-worrying self, made a pained face whenever Jaehyun took a step forward or back, scared that Mark would fall off. But Jaehyun assured him Mark was safe with him, and that seemed to put the oldest at ease.

Mark stayed on Jaehyun’s shoulders, feeling like he was on the top of the world, telling the other two where he wanted to go next. He also didn’t see Taeyong whipping out his phone every once in a while to take a picture of the two.

Mark and Jaehyun mostly spoke English during their stay. Jaehyun showed his great knowledge about animals when he explained to Mark how llamas grew thicker fur when it got colder or that flamingos gained their flaming red feathers from eating red crabs.

Taeyong didn’t seem to mind that he couldn’t really participate in the conversation, undoubtedly realising that this was what Mark felt like almost every day. Besides, he didn’t have it in him to intertwine in their bonding time.

When the day came to an end, Mark had a hard time saying goodbye to his new friend. And even though Taeyong pretended to not be affected by it, Mark saw the lingering glances and touches between two of them.

 

Jaehyun visited the Lees more often after that. He spent a lot of his time after school at Taeyong’s home instead of taking care of his own, and Mark guessed it had been the other way round before Taeyong’s argument with his parents.

Jaehyun helped Mark with his homework when Taeyong wasn’t home, made sure he had lunch every time. And even when it was just the two of them, Jaehyun made him use Korean rather than English, and even though Mark hated it, he knew it was best this way.

Just over a short time, Mark became better and better in opening up to other people, and his parents realised that he had become more and more talkative, and Mark saw how happy it made them.

With finals coming closer, Taeyong got more invested in his school work, his attention on anything else fading. So it wasn’t rare that Jaehyun was the one who walked Mark home and occupied him. Taeyong barely came to eat dinner with them, so it was just Mark and his parents. And a couple of months ago, that thought would have scared him, but now, he managed to hold a conversation upright without facing too many troubles.

One time, his parents weren’t home for a couple of days, and naturally, Jaehyun took over and took care of Mark and Taeyong. He helped Mark with his schoolwork, made sure Taeyong wouldn’t starve and kept the house clean. Mark wondered how he did that with his own finals being not too far either.

It was late when Mark was thirsty. He knew Jaehyun and Taeyong were downstairs, studying together, so if he would be quiet enough, they wouldn’t see him being up way past his bedtime.

He tiptoed downstairs, his socks making his steps almost soundless. He only had to pass the living room and then he’d be in the kitchen. From the corridor, you could see the giant closet and the couch in the living room. The door was facing the back of the couch, so the person sitting on it wouldn’t see anyone walking through the corridor. That made it easy for Mark to sneak into the kitchen.

He was caught off guard, however, when he saw that the two weren’t studying. Taeyong was sitting in Jaehyun’s lap, but other than their silhouettes illuminated by the light from the lamppost outside, Mark couldn’t really make out what they were doing. He couldn’t stop staring, the way their bodies moved that it was obvious they weren’t new to this. That was until Taeyong caught his gaze, and his eyes widened.

He scrambled out of Jaehyun’s lap, and the other whipped his head around to look at the intruder.

“What are you doing here?” Taeyong yelled at him.

“I...,” Mark started, fidgeting with his fingers, mouth opening and closing again. This was the first time that Taeyong had ever yelled at him, and Mark needed time to process how he should answer his question. He had been taken by surprise at Taeyong’s tone which had made his brain shut off completely.

Jaehyun had gotten up to turn on the lights, and now Mark could see that their hair was tousled and their clothes were crumpled. Taeyong had his head buried in his hands and he was mumbling things to himself.

“What did you want, Mark?” Jaehyun asked him, gently shooing him out of the living room.

“I was looking for a glass of water,” Mark pressed out before he wriggled out of Jaehyun’s arms and fled upstairs.

The next morning, a Sunday, the air was filled with tension when Mark joined them for breakfast. When he arrived in the kitchen, they had immediately cut off their conversation and they looked at him with almost expectant eyes, waiting for how he would react.

He simply asked one of them to hand him the maple syrup and with that, their accident the day before, was forgotten.

 

///

 

Mark was thankful for their efforts. They tried to include him in everything they were doing, always asking if he wanted to do something with them after school or on the weekend. Mark might still not be fluent at Korean and didn’t understand every single word they said, but he still noticed how they rather wanted to be alone without a little kid disturbing them.

That’s when Mark realised it was time to find friends on his own; he couldn’t spend his life with only Taeyong by his side. And that was even easier than expected: he quickly became friends with a younger boy called Donghyuck. He helped him practice Korean and in exchange, Mark helped him understand the lyrics of English songs.

Taeyong was also really happy for Mark, and after that, it just came natural to them that Taeyong spent more time at Jaehyun’s, while Donghyuck came over more often. Sometimes, the four of them had movie nights as well, and Mark loved it every time.

One time, Mark and Donghyuck returned early from their trip at the park and caught Taeyong and Jaehyun in a _compromising_ position when they went into Taeyong’s bedroom after hearing grunts coming out from behind the door (of course they’d realise just years later what exactly they had witnessed).

You could say that's been the turning point, the point where the two boys decided to not interfere with the older’s life and do their own thing instead.

 

April, 2019

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading!


End file.
